Fifth Angel
by Seikyn
Summary: What if, in the end, the human race is wiped out?


Disclaimer: I do not own the characters,locations, or items of Final Fantasy VII, they belong to Square-Enix.  
  
Fifth Angel  
  
"The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I  
  
saw a star that had fallen from the sky to  
  
the earth. The star was given the key to the  
  
shaft of the Abyss."  
  
---------Revelation 9:1  
  
Cloud Strife watched quietly as Meteor slowly began it's final descent into Midgar. His expression was one of stoic anxiousness.  
  
From the Highwind he had a spectacular view of the devastation the dark summon was inflicting upon the wonderously corrupt city. Meteor had pierced the atmosphere and the massive turbulance created tornadoes and hurricane-force winds that carried debris high into a pure storm of shrapnel and broken bodies. The tornadoes ripped homes and their foundations right off the plate. Impossibly, the winds had torn the Sister Ray from the Shinra Headquaters and left it splayed across the expanse of the plate.  
  
"Wait a damn minute!" Barret shouted from his vanage point. "What's going to happen to Midgar? We can't let that happen!"  
  
Barret was obviously worried for the innocent citizens, Cloud mused to himself. He then heard Cait Sith try to calm Barret down.  
  
"I had everyone take refuge in the slums, but the way things are now..." the tiny cat's voice trailed off as he wiped an imaginary tear from his robotic face.  
  
Out in the distance, Holy was on the move, appraoching Meteor with incredible speed. Without fail and in a swift matter of moments, Holy formed a barrier between Meteor and Midgar. Holy seemed to drive the dark magic from the city and back into space for a few minutes, but suddenly, Meteor broke through and the chaotic storms kicked up in renewed vigor and violence. The sudden force toppled the Shinra Headquarters and several plates fell, crushing the frightened citizens who had fled to safety there.  
  
"It's too late for Holy," Red XIII remarked as he made his way forward. "Meteor is approaching the Planet. Holy is having the opposite effect."  
  
The beast shook his head. "Forget Midgar, we have to worry about the Planet!"  
  
Cloud looked to Tifa, who was watching the events unfold outside with a look of sad apathy. She starled him when she looked up quickly and pointed off into the distance.  
  
"What's that?" she shouted to the rest of the team.  
  
Everywhere the emerald tendrils of the Lifestream sprouted from the ground. They swirled and danced and intertwined with each other as the streams flowed and ebbed to their ultimate destination, Midgar. Soon the eerie green light from the river of souls filled the land frm horizen to horizen.  
  
"What the hell is that?" Barret swore a little too loudly.  
  
"Lifestream," Cloud muttered to himself.  
  
The tendrils reached the great cataclysm flowed through the air to the target set for them by some other force. Meteor seemed to absorb the energy that reached up to it. There was a great flash of light, and Meteor sucked up the last of the Planet's last defense. Meteor then kept falling.  
  
Then it faltered and stopped in midair. Great chasms and deep fissures tore the Meteor into something less dangerous, but still fatal. The surface shredded itself but still held togather.  
  
Cloud looked around and saw more Lifestream coming from Midgar and various other points around the globe. Unlike the first wave of the Planet's energy, these streams were short and incredibly small. Cloud wondered where these mysterious streams originated from, and had a feeling he knew, but couldn't place it. The newcoming tendrils joined with Meteor and chunks andctually began to break off and float away, but Metoer held fast to it's piece of sky.  
  
Cloud heard a muffled grunt from behind him and truned to see Vincent doubled over, as if in pain. Then Cloud saw it.  
  
A transparent form of Chaos was ripped from Vincent's body and turned into an emerald, glowing stream of light. Then out came Hellmasker, then the Death Gigas, and finally the Galien Beast.  
  
Vincent's eyes were wide, his mouth opened and closed a few times, as if he was trying to say something. Finally, he stopped.  
  
"I'm free," He said quietly. "I have atoned."  
  
WIth that, a ghostlike form of Vincent emerged from Vincent's physical body. Cloud could have sworn he saw a smile on the ghost-Vincent's face, but he was cut out of his astonishment when Vincen't lifeless body fell to the deck of the Highwind.  
  
Cloud immediately pieced it all togather. The Lifestream by itself could not beat Sephiroth's black magic, and it needed all the reserves it could get, so it was going to kill the human race to defend itself. Their souls were being sucked out to power the Lifestream in it's struggle.  
  
"Shit," was all Cid could say as he realized this.  
  
The group looked to Cait Sith, who was motionless and silent, which was uncharacteristic for the cat. Could walked over and pushed him over. The remote-controlled robot fell to the ground as lifeless as it's controller.  
  
They were all brought out of their grief by a sudden jerk that sent everyone to the floor. Cloud helped Tifa steady herself and looked to see what stunt Cid was playing on them, but his eyes went wide with shock.  
  
Cid was laying on his back before the helm, cigarette still burning, eyes dull and without focus.  
  
The Highwind spun out of control.  
  
Cloud and the other hurried to get parachutes as the Highwind fell. Yuffie died before she could even open the door to retieve hers. Barret died just as he had his on.  
  
Cloud found that his was ripped and unuseable, but helped Tifa with hers. They made it to the deck before she realized he had nothing to escape with. Cloud could, in no way, express everything he felt in that moment. He merely kissed her on the forehead and pushed her overboard. He saw her chute pop open, but, alas, fate took her in that moment. He leaned against the railing and watched Red XII abandon ship.  
  
Cloud looked to the torn skies above him screamed. He screamed out all of his frustration and despair. How could the Planet turn on him in this moment, the moment when good had triumphed and the darknees had been lifted? Why kill the protectors who had fought so hard, toiled for many weeks, and had the courage to fight back the great shadows?  
  
A great gust of wind hit his body and swept him overboard. He felt chilled to the bone, but that was not because of the freezing rain and wind. Blackness crept into his vision and before the shadows engulfed him, he called out one word,one question, into the howling air.  
  
"Why?" and then Cloud Strife knew no more.  
  
The call carried across the howling gales and Lifestream filled skies. Then Meteor disappeared, destroyed at last. In the sudden, eerie quiet, Cloud's question echoed through the now empty cities, towns, valleys, mountains. Every living thing left heard his final plea. Soon after it reached the ears of the creature known as Red XIII, a sorrowful howl joined the heroes voice as the sound resonated in the still skies  
  
-------I've never seen a fanfic about what would happen if the human race was wiped out in the end. I guess this is my tribute to every other person who believes the humans should have been wiped out in the end for all of the rampant corruption and evil causes that they stood for. Once again, please R&R. 


End file.
